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Red Wings, Andreas Athanasiou agree to one-year deal

Posted on Sunday, October 22, 2017 by Willis Stokes

Red Wings Sign Andreas Athanasiou

The team has gotten off to a 4-3 start following losses to the divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning this week, and while the offense has looked decent thusfar, the explosive speed and playmaking abilities Athanasiou provided a year ago would be a welcome presence. This will be his fourth straight game as a healthy scratch. General Manager Ken Holland spoke with media prior to Friday night's game against the Washington Capitals about the move, and said it was important to get Athanasiou back in Detroit with an anticipated larger role this year. David Booth was in the penalty box for hooking Washington's Tom Wilson when Darren Helm intercepted a pass by Ovechkin just inside the Detroit blue line, barreled down the left wing and whistled a high wrist shot from the top of the faceoff circle over the stick-side shoulder of Holtby 4:31 into the second period.

It was also a message sent to Burakovsky, who hadn't scored in the first seven games as most of his shot attempts were either getting blocked or missing the net. In his fourth year with the team, the Capitals are counting on the 22-year-old to elevate his production to help replace departed top-six forwards Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams.

On a power play 9:51 into the first period, Burakovsky's shot was on target, but the puck went off Mrazek's chest. Last season the Canadian native had 18 goals and 11 assists in 64 games. That's the third shorthanded goal Washington has allowed this season.

T.J. Oshie scored a power-play goal for Washington to tie it 3-3 with 1:01 left in the third period.

Tomas Tatar lit the lamp twice in the second period to keep Detroit in the game. But the Red Wings responded when Tatar tipped a puck past Holtby for his first goal of the game. He finished second on the Red Wings in even strength goals (17) in 2016-17 and tallied a pair of overtime winners.